Survey Data
Reg No
13901128
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural
Previous Name
Thomastown Castle
Original Use
Gate lodge
In Use As
House
Date
1844 - 1880
Coordinates
293399, 299268
Date Recorded
14/07/2005
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached two-bay single-storey over basement gate lodge, extant 1880, on a T-shaped plan with single-bay single-storey gabled projecting end bay; single-bay (south) or two-bay (north) single-storey side elevations. Pitched slate roof on a T-shaped plan with roll moulded clay ridge tiles, red brick Running bond chimney stacks on cut-limestone chamfered cushion courses on red brick Running bond bases having corbelled stepped capping supporting terracotta pots, timber bargeboards to gables, and cast-iron rainwater goods on red brick header bond "Cavetto" cornice retaining cast-iron downpipes. Red brick Flemish bond walls on cut-limestone plinth on repointed rubble stone base with margined tooled cut-limestone quoins to corners. Square-headed window openings with cut-limestone sills, and red brick voussoirs framing one-over-one timber sash windows. Set back from line of road at entrance to grounds of Knock Abbey with tooled limestone ashlar octagonal piers to perimeter having ivy-covered capping supporting replacement mild steel double gates.
Appraisal
A gate lodge illustrating the "improvement" of the Knock Abbey estate by Myles William Patrick O'Reilly MP (1825-80) with the architectural value of the composition confirmed by such attributes as the compact plan form; the construction in a vibrant red brick with "sparrow pecked" limestone dressings not only demonstrating good quality workmanship, but also producing a pleasing two-tone palette; the polygonal bay windows; the 'most peculiar blank oval panels seemingly still awaiting sculpted O'Reilly coat of arms' (Dean 2016, 266); and the high pitched roof. Having been well maintained, the form and massing survive intact together with substantial quantities of the original fabric, thus upholding the character or integrity of a gate lodge making a pleasing visual statement in a rural street scene.